There has been a movement in recent years to privatize access to space and to develop commercial space systems. In this regard, various privately owned commercial systems have been proposed for implementation with space vehicles, for example the National Space Transportation System (NSTS) Orbiter, the Mir Space Station, and the planned International Space Station (ISS). Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has relinquished control of NSTS operations to a coalition of private companies called the United Space Alliance. In addition, the ISS is being deployed and constructed by an international consortium of government and private entities.
One such successful implementation of a commercial space venture was the successful development of the SPACEHAB module by SPACEHAB Inc. The SPACEHAB module, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,395, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, includes flat end caps and a flat top panel that permit useful payload items to be attached to the outside of the module in addition to being carried within the module. The SPACEHAB module can be readily co-manifested with other payloads and has been successfully flown on several NSTS Orbiter missions. In order to increase the pressurized volume of the basic SPACEHAB module, a plurality of the basic modules can be coupled together to form a variable length mission-configurable module, which was successfully flown on resupply missions to the Mir Space Station.
One drawback to offering commercial access to space via privately owned and operated payload modules, is the inability of payload customers to maintain constant direct communication with payloads due to the inherent limitations of communicating through the primary communications system of a space vehicle. Payload users need to communicate with payload elements and their own mission specialists working within the module continuously, without waiting in a cue for air time from the main communication system. Another drawback is the inability of commercial customers to obtain continuous positional information to accurately track satellites during each orbit for antenna pointing purposes without reliance on externally provided navigation information. Many existing space vehicles utilize antiquated main communication systems which were developed to interface with the existing communication system of a national space agency. For example, the main communication of the NSTS Orbiter was developed to communicate with NASA's existing system during the 1970's. These primitive communication systems have limited bandwidths and capabilities, and they were not designed for compatibility with the Internet and modem microcomputer hardware and software.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a universal communication system which permits continuous communication with a payload element and with mission specialists, and permits payload users to communicate directly with their payloads, without using the main communication system of a space vehicle. It is another object of the invention to provide a universal communication system that will provide satellite tracking capability for antenna pointing. It is another object of the present invention to utilize standard hardware and software interfaces to provide reliable bi-directional Internet compatible data communications that are responsive to payload user requirements.